WRAPUP 4-Egyptian court orders Mubarak's release

August 21, 2013|Reuters

(Recasts with court ordering Mubarak's release)

By Tom Perry and Maggie Fick

CAIRO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Deposed Egyptian leader HosniMubarak will leave jail as early as Thursday after a courtruling that jolted a divided nation already in turmoil sevenweeks after the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

Convening on Wednesday at the Cairo jail where Mubarak isheld, the court upheld a petition from his lawyer demanding therelease of the man who ruled Egypt for 30 years until he wasoverthrown during the uprisings that swept the Arab world inearly 2011.

Judicial and security sources said the court had orderedMubarak's release. His lawyer, Fareed al-Deeb, confirmed this ashe left Tora prison after the session. Asked when Mubarak wouldgo free, he told Reuters: "Maybe tomorrow".

Mubarak, 85, was sentenced to life in prison last year forfailing to prevent the killing of demonstrators. But a courtaccepted his appeal earlier this year and ordered a retrial.

The ailing former president probably has no politicalfuture. But many Egyptians would see his release as therehabilitation of an old order that endured through six decadesof military-backed rule - and even a reversal of thepro-democracy revolt that toppled him.

At least 900 people, including 100 soldiers and police, havebeen killed in a crackdown on Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood in thepast week, making it Egypt's bloodiest civil episode in decades.

The United States and the European Union are both reviewingaid to Cairo in light of the bloodshed, but Saudi Arabia, a foeof the Brotherhood, has promised to make up any shortfall.

Mubarak is still being retried on charges of complicity inthe killing of protesters during the revolt against him, but hehas already served the maximum pre-trial detention in that case.

The court ruling removed the last legal ground for hisimprisonment in connection with a corruption case, following asimilar decision in another corruption case on Monday.

Mubarak's release might stir more turbulence in Egypt, wherethe army ousted Mursi, the country's first freely electedleader, on July 3, saying it was responding to the will of thepeople following vast protests demanding his removal.

The generals have installed an interim administration tooversee a roadmap they say will lead Egypt to back to democracy.

GULF PRESSURE?

The authorities now portray their quarrel with theBrotherhood, Egypt's best-organised political force, as a fightagainst terrorism and are jailing its leaders, detaining thegroup's "general guide", Mohamed Badie, in Cairo on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which along withKuwait have promised Egypt $12 billion in aid since Mursi'souster, have frowned on Mubarak's detention all along. Arabdiplomats said the conservative Gulf monarchies had lobbied forthe release of a man they once valued as a strong regional ally.

Mubarak's trial, when he appeared in a courtroom cage, andhis jailing also affronted some Egyptian officers. One colonel,who asked not to be named, said the treatment of the formersupreme military commander had "tarnished the army's image".

The United States, a close ally of Egypt since Cairo signeda peace treaty with Israel in 1979, said on Tuesday that thecrackdown on protesters could influence U.S. aid. It deniedreports it had already suspended assistance.

At issue is the future of about $1.23 million in U.S.military assistance and $241 million in economic aid to Egypt.

EU foreign ministers meet on Wednesday to discuss how the28-nation bloc might use its economic power to promote an end toEgypt's conflict, in which it has sought to mediate.

They are likely to tread carefully, mixing expressions ofconcern over bloodshed with limited, if any, changes in a5-billion euro ($6.7 billion) aid package promised last year tohelp foster the new democratic system, diplomats in Brusselssaid.

MORE ARRESTS

Western nations were uneasy during Mursi's year in power,when he assumed extraordinary powers to ram through anIslamist-tinged constitution.

Washington has not denounced the army takeover as a "coup",which under U.S. law would force a suspension of aid. Theensuing bloodshed, however, has dismayed the West.

U.S. Senator John McCain, a former Republican presidentialnominee who has emerged as a strong advocate of suspending aid,said: "The slaughter of hundred of Egyptians in the street isappalling to all of us.

"Now we should expect in return for our aid that thegenerals who are now running the country schedule a change inthe constitution, schedule elections as soon as possible and theinstallation of a government that is representative of thepeople. The present government is representative of no one."

The arrest of Badie, the Brotherhood's leader, is part of awave of detentions among the upper echelons of the organisation.

Murad Ali, a media adviser to the Brotherhood's politicalparty, and Safwat Hegazy, a fiery preacher, were arrested whiletrying to flee the country, state media reported on Wednesday.